New fabrication method and emission characteristics of silicon field emitters

A new fabrication method of silicon field emitters has been proposed, which combines the Si KOH anisotropic etching and local-oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) techniques to form the emitter tip. Wedge-shaped and conical-shaped silicon emitters fabricated using this technique had an extremely well-defined structure indicative of good reproducibility and uniformity of the fabrication process. The emission characteristics have been examined under UHV conditions and it has been revealed that both the anode and gate currents are governed by the Fowler-Nordheim mechanism and show an excellent emission characteristic.<>